Are Promises of Affordable Health Insurance Just Political Talk?
April 2008
In the last year Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have been making a lot of promises regarding medical insurance in America.
Each promises the public sweeping reforms where pre-existing medical conditions can no longer mean you get rejected from health care, where affordable health insurance is a reality for everyone, and where the health care market would be made both accessible and easier to understand.
But is it all just talk?
Democratic lawmakers are setting the bar a bit lower, suggesting that should either Clinton or Obama seek to enact such tremendous changes to the medical insurance market, the country would be unable to pay for it.
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) was recently quoted as saying that, "We all know there is not enough money to do all this stuff," and that, "What they are doing is ... laying out their ambitions."
Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) added that "health care I feel strongly about, but I am not sure we're ready for a major national health care plan."
So what does this mean for those dreams of affordable health insurance? Will it be possible when health care proposals could end up stalled in Congress?
Democratic lawmakers are currently setting smaller goals for medical insurance, including legislation that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP.
But Clinton and Obama will continue to promise affordable health insurance for all Americans. Whether or not it will come to fruition will only become clear in 2009.
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